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How to use Rhythm Writer, one task per page. New here? Start with your first chart in five minutes.

Start here

• Your first chart in five minutes
  Start a song, add sections, paint a groove, hear it back and print it: the whole Rhythm Writer workflow in one page.
• Phones, tablets and installing the app
  Use Rhythm Writer on an iPhone, iPad or Android device, add it to your home screen, and use it offline.

Writing charts

• Sections, phrases, notes and lyrics
  Name and number sections, repeat them, split a section into phrases, duplicate and reorder rows, and add notes and lyric cues.
• Painting grooves: hits, accents, ghosts and hi-hats
  How to enter a drum groove in the Rhythm Writer grid: tapping and dragging, accents and ghost notes, open and closed hi-hat, lane fills and adding bars.
• Time signatures and grid resolution
  Which time signatures Rhythm Writer supports, how the grid groups beats in odd and compound meters, and choosing 8ths, 16ths, triplets and finer subdivisions.
• Tempo, dynamics and swing
  Set the song tempo, change tempo for one section, mark dynamics from pp to fff, add crescendos and decrescendos, and swing the eighths.

Playing and printing

• Playback: hearing your chart
  Loop one groove or play the whole song, add a metronome click and count-in, choose a drum kit, and what playback does with accents, ghosts and dynamics.
• Printing, PDFs and gig view
  Print a chart on letter paper, save it as a PDF or PNG, choose portrait, landscape or compact, and read it on a tablet at the gig.

Your songs and license

• Where your songs are saved
  Rhythm Writer saves songs on your own device, either in a folder you choose or inside the browser. How each works and how to keep them safe.
• Moving songs between devices
  Export a song as a file and import it on another phone, tablet or computer, or send a chart to a sub. Also: syncing with a cloud folder.
• Your license: buying, activating, devices and refunds
  What the free version includes, how to buy and activate a Rhythm Writer license, using it on three devices, moving it, renewal, cancelling and refunds.

Reference

• Keyboard shortcuts
  Every keyboard and mouse shortcut in Rhythm Writer: adding rows, accents and ghosts, lane fills, undo, playback and gig view page turns.
• Troubleshooting and FAQ
  Fixes for no sound, missing songs, a folder that needs reconnecting, license messages, printing problems, and answers to common questions about Rhythm Writer.